Nine time world champion, four time Rip Curl Pro champion and right now world number one surfer on the ASP 2010 season ratings,  Kelly Slater showed his immense appreciation for Australian Indigenous Culture by gifting his winning 2010 Rip Curl Pro ‘BELL’ trophy to the Wathaurong Aboriginal Co-operative.

Slater who has twice before been the recipient of a traditional aboriginal welcome to the winner’s podium by the Je-Be-Weng Aboriginal Dancers when receiving his trophy explained that when he arrived at Bells this year he had decided that if he won he would give his trophy to the Wathaurong community in recognition of their previous support of him and as an acknowledgement of the traditional owners of the land.

He went on to say half way through the final and well behind in scores he suddenly remembered his personal pledge and  he thought he may not get the opportunity, one he really wanted and that just after this thought the wave that ultimately won him the event came his way!

“I’m really excited because I remembered that before this contest I promised myself that if I won, I would give to trophy to the Wathaurong (local aboriginal tribe) people,” Slater said. “I didn’t remember that until I was out in the water and right when I did, those waves came. So before I give it to them, I want to pass the trophy around for everyone to give a ring because that’s never been done before.”

Slater spent quite some time with his Aboriginal friends in the Johanna car park ringing the Bell in his own hand over celebration. The place that WATHAURONG ABORIGINAL CO-OPERATIVE plays in the Rip Curl Pro is now significant and is specifically aimed at exposing the world to Australian Aboriginal Culture.

The indigenous element of Rip Curl Pro is a key component of the 12 month a year statewide indigenous surfing program co ordinated by Surfing Victoria in partnership with the Wathaurong Aboriginal Co-Operative and supported by the Victorian Government water safety initiative Play it Safe by the Water, the Department of Justice, VicHealth, many community groups and the surfing industry.

Elements of the program include statewide indigenous community learn to surf and water safety programs, work placement opportunities, a statewide surfing carnival attracting community members from not just the Victorian coastline but many inland communities as well, wild card opportunities into the Rip Curl Pro and coaching and mentoring courses.

Now number one on the ASP World Ratings following his second placing in Brazil, you can be certain the Wathaurong Aboriginal Co-operative will be cheering Slater  on through every event this season!

story via surfingaustralia.com

Carissa Moore (HAW), 17, 2010 ASP Women’s World Tour rookie, has claimed the 2010 TSB Bank Women’s Surf Festival over Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS), 19, in pumping offshore barrels at Fitzroy Beach.

The third stop on the 2010 ASP Women’s World Tour season, the TSB Bank Women’s Surf Festival enjoyed a veritable cornucopia of conditions throughout the six-day event window, culminating in exciting fashion today in front of a capacity crowd at the primary site.

Moore wasted little time in the hard-fought Final, posting an excellent 9.33 out of a possible 10 on her opening wave for a flurry of electrifying backhand surfing. The Hawaiian rookie was quick to back it up, lighting up another running lefthander with unfettered ferocity and a complete repertoire of maneuvers for 9.83, collecting the highest heat total of the event, a 19.16 out of a possible 20, as well as the victory.

“The conditions definitely turned on for us this afternoon and I knew I couldn’t leave Sally (Fitzgibbons) a lot of room to maneuver,” Moore said. “She has been getting the highest scores every round and she’s so dangerous. I just felt like I was building momentum throughout the event and fortunately peaked in the Final.”

Following a relatively slow start to 2009 with two Equal 9th place results, Moore (who has long been considered one of the most promising young surfers on the planet) was growing frustrated with her former 9th place ranking. Today’s win vaults the young Hawaiian to ASP Women’s World No. 6 and establishes her as a legitimate threat to the 2010 ASP Women’s World Title.

“I wasn’t very happy with the start of my year,” Moore said. “I expected more out of myself and couldn’t figure out what was going on. Things really fell into place for me here in New Zealand and it’s a great result for my campaign this year. I’m really excited and looking forward to Sydney.”

In a show of unprecedented generosity, Moore chose to donate her US$15,000 first prize winnings to the local Waitara Bar Boardriders Club, a gesture that received undulating support from the thousands in attendance.

“I fell in love with New Zealand and I’m fortunate enough to have great support from my family and my sponsors and that puts me in a position to do things like this,” Moore said. “The Haka that the Waitara Bar Boardriders Club performed before the event was beautiful and they’ve really opened up their community and waves to us. For this, I am very thankful.”

Despite Moore’s domineering start to the Final, Fitzgibbons fought back admirably collecting a 7.50 and an 8.67, but it would not be enough to overtake Moore.

“It’s frustrating but Carissa (Moore) just went mad in the Final,” Fitzgibbons said. “The waves were really good, and it was an exciting heat. I’m disappointed to not get the win, but it’s still a good result for me.”

read more at ASP

With two events done and dusted on the 2010 ASP World Tour, the dynamic transitions instituted this season are beginning to take shape. The unified system, dubbed the ‘ASP World Rankings’, will soon be in full swing and we thought it an apt time to touch base with ASP Tour Manager Al Hunt. This…is his story…

In 2010, ASP has made changes to the way the male surfers qualify for and gain ranking points towards the ASP World Title. The ASP World Tour and ASP World Qualifying Series (WQS) are no more as such, being combined in terms of rankings under the umbrella “ASP World Tour” banner, and distinguished through the “ASP World Title Race” and the “ASP World Rankings”.

The ASP World Title Race consists initially of 45 surfers fighting it out for points to decide the undisputed ASP World Champion. These 45 surfers all compete in the first five events of the year (Gold Coast, Bells Beach, Brazil, J-Bay and Tahiti) and then the Top 32 seeds move on into the second half of the year from Hurley Pro at Trestles to the Billabong Pro at Pipeline.

The surfer with the most points from just the ASP World Title Race events will be crowned the 2010 ASP Men’s World Champion. This will also be the system for every year to come in deciding the ASP World Champion.

In addition to the ASP World Title events, the ASP World Tour will encompass the former ASP WQS, running events from ASP 1-Star through 6-Star to PRIME as it was previously. This will allow ASP to have a continual rankings based on a surfers best 8 results, which will be used to select and seed surfers into the ASP World Title events plus ASP 1- 6 Star and PRIME events.

After 12 months, previously counting best 8 events are replaced by current events. This means that a surfer may have been counting his result from the Quiksilver Pro in February all year until it gets replaced the following year by the surfer’s next best 8th result. You CANNOT count events for more than 12 months and once the same event has run the previous points are replaced by the new points even if they are worth less.

2010 will also be a transition year with a couple of minor differences to what it will be instituted from 2011 onwards. The differences are that the ASP Men’s World Title 32 seeded surfers for 2011 will be the 2010 Top 22 plus the next 10 based on the ASP World Tour Rankings as of end of the Billabong Pipeline Pro in December, along with two wild cards selected by ASP.

During 2011, there will be changes to the ASP World Title Race selected surfers, with the Top 32 from the ASP World Tour Rankings being selected after a yet to be determined number of events.

If ASP decides to have two, three or four changeovers, it would work like this:

Say ASP decides to have three changeover dates during the year, then after the third event, the previous Top 32 would be replaced by the current Top 32 on the ASP World Rankings. These 32 may still be the same or they could be slightly different with a handful or more new faces. No one knows the exact number, but for sure, any newcomer if they have great results can break into the ASP World Title Race events at any time and not have to slave on the previous WQS for at least one year. Fast tracking those that are good enough is what it is all about.

To summarize, in 2010 things are pretty similar to previous years with the exception of adding the ASP World Title event points to a new ASP World Tour Rankings using all previous WQS events.

From 2011 onwards, this new ASP World Ranking will decide who gets to compete in the ASP World Title events and eventually decide the ASP World Champion. These ASP World Rankings also decide the selection order and seeding for all men’s events from ASP World Title through PRIME to 1-Star.

ASP is excited about these changes and look forward to them until such time a better format comes about and you can rest assured ASP will change when that time comes to remain at the forefront of progressive thinking.

Your’s In Surfing, Al Hunt – ASP Tour Manager

Q & A

Who can win the 2010 ASP World Title?
Anyone of the ASP Top 45 surfers that were invited at the start of the 2010 season. The one with the most points at the end of the year is the undisputed ASP World Champion.

Will there be any changes to ASP World Title invited surfers during the year?
The Top 45 will be cut back to 32 at the end of the 5th event. These 32 are the highest 32 seeds on the ASP World Title Rankings.

Will ASP World Tour surfers be able to break into the ASP World Title events during 2010?
No, only during 2011 tour will there be changeover periods. The number of changeover periods is yet to be decided.

What happened to the ASP WQS?
The WQS has been replaced by a Star and PRIME events. Events range in progressive importance from 1-Star through 6-Star to PRIME.

What events can be used to count towards rankings?
The best 8 of all 10 ASP World Title events count towards the ASP World Title Rankings and best 8 of all 10 ASP World Title plus all 1-6 Star and PRIME count towards the ASP World Rankings.

Do ASP World Title event seed replacements and wildcards get to use their results towards their ASP World Rankings?
ASP World Title replacement seeds can use the results, but wildcards cannot.

Who will contest the ASP World Title events in 2011?
The Top 22 from the end of 2010 ASP World Title Rankings will automatically start the 2011 year as ASP World Title event seeds. These 22, along with the Top 10 from the ASP World Tour Rankings (combined World Title and 1-6 Star and PRIME results) plus two ASP wildcards will start the 2011 year.

Why have an ASP World Tour Ranking?
The ASP World Tour Ranking after the first 12 months will be used to decide who makes the cut into the ASP World Title events, decide the seeding order for all events plus who gets into 1-6 Star and PRIME events. If any event is oversubscribed as of the closing date, then the ASP World Tour Rankings are used to decide who gets into the event, along with a few exceptions like defending champions, event wildcards and ASP World Junior wildcards if applicable.

When do ASP World Tour events get replaced?
The best 8 ASP World Tour event results are replaced when a surfer betters their 8th lowest score or an event becomes more than 12 months old. No results can be used for more than 12 months.

www.aspworldtour.com

story via ASP